23 Jul 2013 // 5:00 AM

Sonny Smith might be the West Coast's best, least predictable songwriter, but don't try to pin him down. He followed up his 100 Records performance art project with first a country album and now a synthy, whimsical, sci-fi exploration of the afterlife. "I didn't have it all mapped out," he says. "I thought it would be fun to take a left turn ... and then another one."

20 May 2010 // 10:00 PM

While Frankie still remains a diehards-only release, The Age of Octeen is larger than the "post-hardcore" genre trappings, an album capable of converting skeptics previously unwilling to look for beauty and creativity beneath the din.